Karute Caged Tigers
by Kolorful Kyandii
Summary: House and his team's beliefs on what separates man from monster is tested when a young boy is brought in with strange symptoms varying across the board.
1. Mystery Man

_**Karute Caged Tigers**_

"He's eighteen! Probably just shot his liver drowning himself in alcohol, and got a cold. Send him home." House griped, unimpressed.

"He's never had alcohol, moral decision apparently." Chase countered with his accented drawl. "Tested him anyway, he's clean."

"Why are you so interested in this case?"

"He's little more than a kid, House. I just... want to help him."

"Stop, before you bore me enough to jump off the balcony."

"He refuses to give his name, it's quite mysterious."

"I'll take it." House snatched the file, ignoring Chase's roll of the eyes and heading to the side-door to the office, maneuvering himself over the balcony edge and right into Wilson's, opened the back door, ignored that Cuddy was in the room, and threw himself down on the couch.

"I'm in a meeting, House."

"I don't care, Wilson."

House flipped open the file, scanning the contents.

The door opened, House's team filing into the room, looking unsurprised and not bothering to wonder why they had randomly switched offices.

"Use your own office." Wilson grumbled.

"It's easier to annoy you from here than there."

"Of course." Wilson sighed.

"Patient first presented with loss of appetite and fever, was brought in when he fainted on the bus, but he's absolutely refused to answer any questions about who he is or anything else except the fever and appetite loss the last two days and a couple basic questions. He was referred to us after the nurse noticed he was having a simple partial seizure evidenced by unresponsiveness, and he was shivering like he was cold. He had a second one four hours later after they'd transferred him from the ER to a room."

"Cool." House grinned in a way that made the others in the room apprehensive to let him leave as he stood and quickly made his way towards the door, cane tapping on the ground.

"Where are you going?"

"To talk to the patient!" House threw over his shoulder, and everyone in the office instantly went for the door to follow.

"I'll get popcorn and some complaint forms." Cuddy sighed, heading off towards the elevators rather than the wing the patient was staying in.

The others easily caught up to House, and tailed him in depressed silence to the room.

"So you, brat, if you want us to treat you we need your medical history." He demanded gruffly.

The late teenager in the bed sighed slightly and leaned back on the pillows. His hair was light, in an uneven short chop with one longer bit by his face, and his eyes a strangely hypnotizing color that shifted under the LED lights as they flicked away from the newcomers to stare out the window. His build was slight, and they could see that he still wore his street clothes with a hospital gown just draped across him by a nurse.

"There's nothing helpful in it. I'm healthy." He answered simply, faintly accented.

"That's for me to decide. I wouldn't take your word for it anyway, what's your name, I'll send out for records."

Atsushi sighed, internally annoyed, since there were no such records anyway. "Just call me Gekka-Ju if you need to call me by something. Who are you?"

House narrowed his eyes, giving the younger the same stare he would a puzzle. "House, a super smart guy whose gonna find out what's wrong with you. So, you haven't felt hungry, and have been running a fever. Then why were you on the bus? You should have been resting and getting well, are you stupid?"

Atsushi's gaze didn't waver from the window. "It was only a slight fever, I thought it would go away on its own – that happens to me. My temperature rises slightly naturally when I sleep, and if the room is too warm and makes me overheat it will sometimes do that. It always goes away when I get up and moving for a couple hours."

"That indicates a more long-term disorder-" Foreman began the analysis.

"Or." Chase interrupted. "Not. That happens to me too, I get it from my mother apparently, I have met a few people who said the same. It can be normal."

"Freak." House insulted offhandedly, flipping a page of the chart.

"Anything else? Itching, runny nose, rashes?"

"Nothing until the bus, where I fainted, or so I hear."

"Dropped like a rock." House nodded, reading from the chart, then looked up to meet Atsushi's curious gaze and paused. "Lean closer."

Atsushi narrowed his eyes critically.

"Just do it and then stare at me for a bit."

After another moment of deliberation, he did so, leaning forward until there was half a foot of space between him and House. "Kiss me and die." The teen threatened.

"Who'd want to kiss an idiot, it might be infectious and make me stupid enough to not understand that I'm supposed to stay home when I have a fever."

Atsushi was unimpressed.

House held up on hand, pointing at Atsushi and then slowly moving his hand to the left, Atsushi following it with his eyes, finally catching on to why he was doing that, then leaned away.

"Your eyes are Sectorial Heterochromatic Iridium. Pale purple and gold though, both those are unusual alone."

"Born with it. Didn't know it had a fancy title."

"What about your parents."

Atsushi fell silent, expression closing off like slamming a door, once again wary. "… Never knew them." He eventually said, the first piece of any truly personal information to be shared.

"So it _is_ genetic." Foreman again attempted.

"Or." Chase again countered. "Not, and he just has Heterochromatic eyes, which is not all that unusual, even Thirteen and I both have them, his are possibly just a bit more unusual due to the specific rare coloring, but it's not impossible."

"Any history of bad eyesight?" House again directed at the patient, reaching toward Atsushi's left ear and snapping his fingers, which Atsushi glanced at and simply waited for explanation.

"None, had a test last year and I was fine?"

"Well, at the least we can rule out Retinitis Pigmentosa and Wilsons. Any other theories than genetic? Fever, fainting, then simple partial seizures."

"That could be lots of things House. Encephalitis or another virus, bacteria-" Foreman began, trailing off as Chase took over.

"No rash, no abdominal pain either, so arrhythmia, stenosis or prolapse. Possibly an electrolyte imbalance?"

"No to the last one, they gave him an IV on arrival. Heart monitor hasn't picked up anything unusual. Take some of his red life-giving substance and test for cell counts and a general workup, page the radiology house elves to get an MRI to test for Neurofibromatosis, Toxoplasmosis, and Encephalitis, and then throw him off a building." House commanded, shut the file, and shoved the door open with his cane on the way out.


	2. Trigger Tests

Atsushi yawned as they roused him, the brunette woman explaining that she needed to draw blood. He blinked, holding out his arm reluctantly and mentally preparing himself to remain still for the contact; due to past events, he was rather wary about such things. It took a lot for him to be relaxed and trust.

He twitched as the band was tied around his arm, restraining him.

"I'm going to need you to relax." The woman requested, one hand around his wrist and the other tapping his forearm.

"Not possible." Atsushi managed, voice almost too even.

"Uh- Okay, I'm Thirteen… a nickname." The woman attempted, momentarily surprised then forcing a polite smile. "Take it easy. You'll feel a prick, and then it'll be over." She reassured. Atsushi simply nodded calmly.

Thirteen was quick about it, filling two vials and removing the needle with a piece of cotton pressed down. "So, scared of needles?"

"No. People."

"… Oh."

"… I apologize, I'm not very great with the whole… 'social' thing."

"I could tell. Your lack of societal knowledge made you manage to get through an entire conversation with House though, I say kudos, that's amazing." She praised lightly, grinning.

Atsushi shrugged, relaxing a bit as she finally moved away.

"Okay, next test."

Her patient tipped his head to the side.

"You're up for the MRI. Giant magnet gives of pictures of the inside of your brain."

He couldn't help but wonder just what they would find there, but wasn't quite worried; the others with abilities at the Agency had reassured him that so long as his abilities were in no way triggered, he would appear completely human. Meaning, so long as they didn't draw blood or x-ray him under the moonlight, things would be fine.

Thirteen motioned to a nurse in the hall, who promptly opened the door to push in a wheelchair.

"… I can stand..."

"Protocol."

Atsushi sighed, easily slipping from the bed and into the chair, Thirteen easily maneuvering him into the hall. Faces passed by in silence.

"So why won't you give us your real name? I'm curious."

"… Oh the irony. Because curiosity gets cats killed." Atsushi sighed, tone humorous despite.

"And that's ironic how?" She queried curiously.

"Because I have _no idea_ who the cat would be in that situation."

"Hm." Thirteen quipped noncommittally as her only response. "Okay. So when we put you into the machine, I'll need you to hold as still as possible. The machine is really loud when you're in it so don't be startled, ok?" She explained as they turned a corner, going through a set of double doors a nurse opened for them.

"Yeah, that's fine."

Atsushi easily stood from the chair and transferred to the table, lying flat as Thirteen rolled the table into the machine. Atsushi felt the jolt as it clicked into place, lights flickering on a moment later, and a machine made a loud bang; for a moment Atsushi thought he'd somehow broken it, but then the same noise came again, and settled into a methodical hum.

It was over quite quickly, and Atsushi pushed off the sides to slide himself out when the okay came over the speaker, sitting up so his legs dangled over the side of the table. "So?"

"Clean." Thirteen sighed from inside the tinted glass shelter.

"I see. So, on to the third test, throwing me off a building?"

"Yep. A tilt-table test. You're strapped to a table and it moves to certain angles and speeds to see if there's any anomalies in your heart rhythm that caused the fainting. You might start to feel dizzy, and if the diagnosis is correct even pass out. We'll be giving you a bit of nitroglycerin, so you might feel a bit twitchy too."

"Oh. Well, I can tell you now then, nothing will come of it. I actually jump off buildings on a daily basis, so..."

"Seriously? Cool." The blonde doctor from before commented, entering through the lab doors. "But, that's also incredibly stupid, so, why?"

Atsushi shrugged. "It's a quicker way from the third story to the ground. I also shortcut by going up to said window on the fire escape, I just don't like having to go through the cafe on the first story. So I use the window."

"How?"

"Parkour. Thus, I can be certain it's not the heart thing, else I would have been fainting in midair during training or just going home on a normal basis."

"Well, good, because it means we have two reasons not to waste three hours doing it. First test came back – increased white count."

Chase held the door open for Thirteen to pass with the chair, discussing what Atsushi took to be his case with a multitude of words and terms he didn't know.

The halls they took him to this time weren't nearly so quiet; in a small open lobby a few groups of people talked, a person or two holding flowers passed, nurses skittered from place to place and a couple of younger children flew past on their way out of a nearby room.

"You'll be staying here until we figure out why you're having seizures."

Atsushi looked up as he recognized the comment was directed at him, giving a nod of acceptance. Thirteen veered to the left, taking him into a room; it was large enough, with four beds, only one of which was slightly messy signaling he had a roommate. Atsushi stood from the annoying chair immediately, analyzing the sight out the window as Chase folded it and shoved it off to the side of what was to be his bed.

Still discussing things in terms that were practically a foreign language, the two doctors wandered out the door. Atsushi followed curiously, deciding to look around the immediate area.

The instinct he was in danger hit him like a tidal wave, and his eyes flashed. The faint sound of something directed at him flying through the air; Atsushi leapt straight in the air without hesitation, curving his spine to land easily on his feet, facing down his opponent.

Behind him came a crash, and Atsushi glanced over his shoulder to see the object that had been thrown slam into the wall, breaking a framed picture and scattering glass everywhere.

After a moment of stunned silence, and then from around him, the stunned nurses, patients, and visitors began to clap for the random patient that just backflipped in midair to dodge a _flying bed_.

A scream rang out, and the room moved into action, nurses darting forward to restrain the raging patient babbling about her daughter and aliens, quickly bandaging her arm where she had ripped out her IV in the process.

Well. Seemed the neighbors would be rather interesting.


	3. Betting Business

"He _backflipped_ over a _flying bed?_ "

Chase nodded quickly. "Yes! And without even seeing it, he was facing away, looking around at the break area. Said he just felt it coming and reacted."

"So either it was some randomly amazing timing, or he's both a ninja and hypersensitive."

"Yes – and he seemed really dizzy after, which in turn seemed to confuse him – seems the kid does some sort of sport where he jumps around a lot so he said it wasn't normal. And he's developed a dry cough."

House uncapped his marker. "Okay. Fever, fainting, simple partial seizures, dizziness, hypersensitivity, and now a dry cough. MRI was clean, general blood workup fine but for an increased white count. Possibly a condition linked to Sectorial Heterochromatic Iridium. Go."

"STD?" Foreman suggested wryly. "Kid is eighteen. Maybe he celebrated in an unsafe way."

Chase snickered. "No way. He's so innocent, it's like he wouldn't even understand the subject if you brought it up."

"You think a teen who looks like that is a virgin? Right." Thirteen muttered to herself, grinning a bit as she flipped through the file.

"You don't?" Chase challenged, and Thirteen looked up, blinking in surprise.

"Definitely not. I mean, girls go after you for the looks, I can only imagine what girls must think of his eyes. He's slept with at least one girl before, for sure."

"Twenty bucks."

"You're on."

"Twenty on Thirteen's side." House piped up immediately.

"I'm with Chase." Foreman countered cooly. "Kid doesn't even drink, I doubt he'd sleep with a girl that he's not intending to marry."

"Alright, the bets are on. Could be Celiac. Seizures, anemia, etc. Kid could have caught a bug that aggravated it, causing it to go into overdrive." Thirteen continued.

"And the hypersensitivity?"

"Maybe he just is a ninja."

"Right, get him a panel and biopsy-"

"I think we should just do a blood test for iron levels and a tTG-IgA." Foreman denied. "There's no need to go invasive when we have a perfectly good test that isn't."

"We should test for cancers too, I'll go ask Wilson about it." Chase supplied.

"Cancer? He's only eighteen. Even if he lied about the age, it's obvious he's in his late teens or early twenties at latest."

"We've seen weirder." Chase shrugged.

The team closed their folders and left before House could say otherwise, splitting ways at the door, Thirteen heading to draw a bit more blood, Foreman to the labs, and Chase towards Wilson's office next door.

Wilson opened the door when Chase knocked, giving Chase a questioning look.

"I need a consult." Chase supplied.

Wilson gave him a strange look. "And you're here knocking politely on my door rather than House paging me to do his clinic work for him? Is House okay?"

Chase grinned. "He's put out because the patient knew how to deal with him."

Wilson stared in blank shock. "... How?!"

"Come to think of it, he just kind of seemed _used_ to it, didn't react to House insulting him or anything." Chase explained, handing over the file.

Wilson scanned the file with a critical eye, then flipped it shut and handed it back. "Could be lung cancer, possibly leukemia or Hodgkin lymphoma. Really it could be a number of things. Can I talk to him?"

"Sure."

Chase turned and gestured to the left, heading for the elevators to the floor where the patient was.

Thirteen was just leaving, a half-filled vial in her hands, as they arrived. Wilson gave the kid a critical look, wondering if this innocent looking boy could really have dealt with House.

"Find out anything?" Chase muttered to her.

"Nothing, I even baited him about unsafe habits a bit but he didn't let a single thing slip."

Wilson gave them another odd look. "He tested negative for any and all drugs or alcohol, right? What were you trying to get from him?"

"We have bets going on wether he's slept with a girl before or not."

"I' m telling you, he's too pure." Chase muttered to her.

"And I say, there's no way-"

"Seriously." Wilson sighed. "You two depend too much time with House. It's immoral to have bets on patients like that."

Chase and Thirteen exchanged a guilty glance.

"I'm glad at least one of you has sense." Cuddy growled as she approached. "Have you managed to get anything else about him?"

Both attending shook their heads.

"So. What are the odds so far?" Wilson asked, too used to it to really keep up the pretense of disapproval and vaguely curious.

"Chase and Foreman think he has morals too high to sleep with some random girl, and myself and House are betting he has – I mean look at the guy. He's hot. And not the way our own pretty boy is, his coloring alone would get him hit on all the time. No single guy would not take the offer once or twice." Thirteen explained.

Cuddy gave the patient an analyzing glance through the glass. "I do not approve of taking bets of the patient's virginity. It's irresponsible and offensive… and Thirteen's right, no teenage kid who looks like that would turn down free sex when a girl offers, twenty on her side."

And with that, she turned and left again, heels clicking on the tile floors. Thirteen smiled in amusement, then turned to go the opposite direction, to give the new sample to Foreman for the new tests.

Wilson looked skyward, and wondered _why_.


End file.
